More About Kenya

Like most rural African women, Joyce Wambua is up with the
sunrise. The morning's work is hard but familiar, and Joyce is up to the task.
For many in Kenya today, however, such labor is fading to memory as drought
withers the crops they used to tend and dries the water holes they used to
frequent.

Here on Joyce's farm in the village of Kayalambi in Kenya's
drought-stricken Kathonzweni District, the story is different. Across her
sloping fields, green leaves stand in stark contrast to the dusty brown
landscape of the region, and lines of earth crisscross the hilly farmland. In
them lies the secret of Joyce's success.

Joyce Wambua prepares maize to be ground into flour on her farm in southern Kenya. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

"I improved the quality of my terraces. Now I'm assured
of a crop harvest even if the rains are bad," Joyce says. "My crop
may be smaller, but I won't have a total crop failure."

Joyce's secret is the Arid and Marginal Lands Recovery
Consortium, or ARC, which has brought dramatic results to farms in some of
Kenya's hardest hit regions. As one of five nongovernmental organizations involved
in the consortium, Catholic Relief Services has been working in the Kathonzweni
District to protect the lives and livelihoods of the most impoverished farmers.

Projects include tree planting and small-scale irrigation, livestock
improvement and soil-conserving earthen terraces designed to trap rainwater on
farm fields. By providing seed vouchers and farm improvement techniques, and
using drought-resistant crops like cow and pigeon peas, CRS is making it
possible for people like Joyce to greatly increase the yield of their farms.

"I learned about planting one crop per area, and
through that I have seen fewer pests," Joyce says. "I also learned
about planting improved varieties of pigeon pea seed that have more yield and…you
can harvest twice per year."

Despite serious drought, Joyce Wambua was able to harvest seeds this year for planting next season. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

The drought gripping much of Kenya has quickly put to the
test the lessons of the ARC program, which was launched in 2009. Although she
was able to harvest at least enough of each crop to provide her seed for next
year, Joyce still saw many of her plants whither. The failure of the early
rains in Kenya has stressed most ARC project areas, slashing harvest yields and
driving up food prices at a time when many can barely feed their families.

"Now I have to go to the market to buy food because I
cannot grow enough," Joyce says. "The prices are much higher now.
Last year at this time, maize was costing .21 cents per kilogram [a little more
than 2 pounds]. Now it's costing .58 cents per kilogram."

Despite the hardship, Joyce still counts herself among the
lucky ones. On nearby farms, many community members who did not participate in
the project lost all of their crops to the drought. Across Kenya, some 3.5
million people are caught up in the drought, and many are depending on food aid
just to survive. Were it not for ARC, Joyce says, she could well have been in
that position herself.

"If I'd planted the traditional variety of pigeon pea,
I wouldn't have gotten anything," Joyce says. "With the improved
variety, at least I harvested something so I will have seed for next season."